BAY CITY, MI — A trial is looming for a Bay City teen nearly a year after police say he bashed a homeless man in the face with mallet.

Terrence L. Conklin, 17, is charged with assault with intent to cause harm less than murder, a 10-year felony, assault with a dangerous weapon and carrying a weapon with unlawful intent. His trial is to commence before Bay County Chief Circuit Judge Kenneth W. Schmidt on Tuesday, April 1, with a backup date slated for Tuesday, April 29.

According to court records, police on the night of May 13, 2013, responded to a home inside the Baytown Family Neighborhood housing complex, after a 58-year-old woman called 911 to report she found a man outside her apartment bleeding from his face. The man, 28-year-old Ryan W. Zwiefka, was taken by ambulance to McLaren Bay Region hospital.

At the hospital, Zwiefka told police he was riding his bicycle near Baytown’s basketball courts when a group of six or seven young men approached him and told him to leave their neighborhood.

“I was on my bike and began to ride away,” Zwiefka told police, according to court records. “Then one of the guys hit me in the face with a mini sledgehammer. He hit me like five times.”

Zwiefka told police he met the man who hit him a few days beforehand. He denied being in Baytown to buy drugs and said he drank about a pint of vodka earlier in the day. He also told police he lives at the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission, 713 Ninth St. on Bay City's East Side.

Hospital staff told police that Zwiefka had a depressed skull fracture, a subarachnoid bleed, an orbital fracture and multiple other facial fractures. He was taken via helicopter to Hurley Medical Center in Flint for further treatment.

Police went door to door in the neighborhood and spoke with an area resident who said he saw Zwiefka surrounded by six or seven young men. He said he recorded the incident on his phone and heard Zwiefka ask for “coke.”

The neighbor also said he heard the younger men asking Zwiefka how much money he had, then Zwiefka reply that he had $3. One of the men, who had a hammer, demanded the $3, then hit Zwiefka when he started to leave, the neighbor told police.

On May 16, police interviewed a 16-year-old male at the Bay County Juvenile Home. The teen said he was present during the assault, saying Zwiefka and another teen, Conklin, began arguing over something. The young crowd told Zwiefka he had to leave and Conklin demanded $3 from him, the teen told police.

During the confrontation, one of the younger men went into a residence and came back with a mallet, which he handed to Conklin, the teen said. When Ziefka started to pedal away, Conklin hit him with the mallet and then the group scattered, the teen said.

The neighbor police earlier interviewed also identified Conklin as the culprit from a photo lineup, court records show.

Police interviewed Conklin on May 30, but he denied involvement in the assault and said he was not even present when it occurred.

Conklin was arraigned in Bay County District Court on Nov. 12. He is free on bond.